The world's best ski runs: in pictures

The OKVal d'Isère, France
On a good day, when the slope is near deserted, this is one of the best runs
in the world. It’s named after two of Val’s racing legends, Henri Oreiller
and Jean-Claude Killy. It’s a World Cup downhill course, but don’t let that
put you off – when not prepared for racing, it’s testing but far from
forbidding for any confident intermediate.

The recreational start is at the top of the Funival underground funicular. A
couple of steep pitches get the adrenalin going. In good conditions put in a
short sequence of GS turns and straight-line the second half of each pitch.
The run flattens out before dropping down past La Folie Douce and Le
Triffolet, two popular mountain hangouts, and into a natural halfpipe.

The tricky bit is the penultimate section beneath the lift pylons. A couple of
easier pistes join the OK here, and the run often becomes icy. Other people
hesitantly slipping and sliding can prove a bigger hazard than the slope
itself. The secret is to stick to the middle of the run and turn as little
as possible on the ice.